Introduction
Plague, also known as the Black Death, was one of the most devastating pandemics in the history of mankind, resulting in the deaths of almost 75 to 200 million people, and peaking in Europe in the years 1346to 1353 (Dunham, 2008). Analysis of DNA from victims in northern and southern Europe indicated that the pathogen responsible for causing several forms of the disease was the Yersinia pestis bacterium (Haensch et al, 2010).
The use of the term plague is presently applied to the bacterial infections that cause buboes, but in the past, the medical use of the term plague has been applied to any pandemic infections in general. A famous synonymous of plague is bubonic plague, but this describes just one of its manifestations. Additional
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Some people accused and blamed the Jews of poisoning wells, which caused a horrifying persecution of Jews. The disease spread fear and hysteria between people, who fled the cities in panic, abandoning their own families. Convinced that the end was near, some sank into corruption, while others prayed for salvation.
The consequences of the plague created a series of religious, social, and economic disruptions, which had great effects on the course of the European history. The Europe's population took almost 150 years to recover from the Black Death.
The disease affected the social life through marriage, the rate rose sharply due to predatory men marrying rich orphans and widows, birth rate also rose. And there were notable increases in violence and debauchery. The economics were also affected. An excess of goods resulted in overspending and it was swiftly followed by a shortage of goods. Plague also affected the church, it lost many people, but the institution became richer through bequests. Churches also grew wealthier by charging more money for its services, such as saying mass for the dead. And the failure of the clergy to help the suffering during the plague, combined with its wealth and the incompetence of its priests, caused anger among the
In addition, the new devaluing of life and questioning of the Church, the fabric that held society together society was ripped. The plague affected everyone from kings to peasants. Soldiers who
In fourteenth-century Europe, the Black Plague disrupted most of European society devastating many. The Black Plague was devastating to European society economically, demographically, and morally. The plague spread as devastatingly as it did because of the continuous spread via trade, and inadequate medical knowledge. One of the major consequences of the plague was anti-Semitism.
The Black Plague affected the people’s relationship with the church and therefore changed the church’s effect on society. One way the plague affected the people in relation to the church was
Plague and diseases were significant and devastating in history because they don’t have the medical system as the modern society. The Black Plague changed the European Society substantially. The disaster affected all aspects of life— depopulation, government corruption, economy decreased dramatically, etc. “The disease carved a path of death through Asia, Italy, France, North Africa, Spain, and Normandy, and continued eastward into Hungary” (The Plague in Florence). The black plague impacted the amount of labors and the Jews. It also undermined the medieval model of feudalism and the presence of the church.
The major short-term effect of the plague was shock. Individuals lost half of their family, saw their neighbors healthy one day and then dead the next morning. The Black Death created an atmosphere of fear, grief, and hopelessness. Many people, overcome by depression, isolated themselves in their homes. (3)
The people weren’t sure how they were catching the quickly spreading disease, and the doctors of this age couldn’t find a cure. This disease is estimated to have killed thirty to sixty percent of Europe’s population. The total world population is believed to have dropped from four-hundred and fifty million down to three-hundred and fifty million, which is a hundred million people or possibly more. The plague resulted in a series of religious, social, and economic outburst, which had great effects on European history.
Another reason the Black Plague affected the economy was how so many people died. The continent had enjoyed some 200 years of prosperity, and then 70 of cold. Result: too little food for too many people. By 1350 one-third of them, especially in the swollen cities, would be dead. In Europe in three or four years, 50 million people died. The population was reduced from some 80 million to
In the early half of the fourteenth century Europe experienced one of the most deadly and disastrous epidemics this world has ever seen. The Black Death or bubonic plague which is caused by the Yersinia pestis is said to half wiped out close to half the population at the time of the outbreak. What is scary is that the same disease has had outbreaks of the plague in both North and South America in recent times but we have not had the same devastating results that we saw in Europe during the fourteenth century. Infectious disease is still the leading cause of death in the world today and as the world becomes more of a "global village" the chances of naturally transmitting diseases is ever growing. In this paper we are going to discuss the factors
Long-term effects were serfs were very poor and worked for land, they never got any wealthier and were not allowed to stop working for the person they were working for, but after the plague hit, there were labor shortages and when the outbreak was minimised the upper-level wealthy groups needed the serfs to work again, but the serfs didn't want to work unless they gonna t paid and so the serfs began to be paid; as a result people who work get paid in the present day. Christians were against the Jewish, so they accused them of poisoning the water well and causing the Black Death even though the Jewish also caught the plague. A short term effect was that children lost their parents to the Black Death, families lost relatives, the population which was once over crowded was minimised since the deadly plague took millions of lives. Christians did not believe God was real anymore or that he was punishing them for their sins and people lost their faith in the church. All these effects of the Black Death contributed to modern day life
Hundreds of years ago, a plague swept over the known world. The Great Plague, Great Pestilence, and Black Death were a few of the names that it was given. In the Background Essay, it states that, "the plague killed between 25 and 45% of the populations it encountered." It was played a huge role in the history of the 14th century. There were three bacterial strains of the plague; all of them were deadly. According
The black plague had many effects on medieval Europe after it killed 31% of their population. These effects were harsh on most people and it did have some benefits but they were very small one to very few people. Some of these effects were that people lost their faith in the church, most of the high class people were beginning to become very poor and the lower class people, or the peasants, were starting to become rich, and many Jewish people were murdered.
"The Black Death" alone was not the only factor that was responsible for the social and economic change although it was the most important (Ziegler 234). Even without "The Black Death" continued deterioration in Europe would have been likely. The social and economic change had already set in well before 1346. For at least twenty-five years before "The Black Death," exports, agricultural production, and the area of cultivated land had all been shrinking. "The Black Death" contributed a large part to all of this destruction and led to important changes in the social and economic structure of the country (Ziegler 234-235). The plague touched every aspect of social life (Herlihy 19). There was hardly a generation that was not affected by the plague (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). Families were set against each other - the well rejecting the sick (www.byu.edu). Families left each other in fear. Many people died without anyone looking after them. When the plague appeared in a house, frightened people abandoned the house and fled to another (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). Due to this, the plague spread more rapidly because people were not aware that being in the same house with the infected person had already exposed them to it. Physicians could not be found because they had also died. Physicians who could be found wanted large sums of money before they entered the house (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). When the
One of the most devastating pandemics in history during the 14th century caused turmoil and massive death amongst Europe. The disastrous disease known as the Black Death ultimately wrenched society in melancholia and disseverment. As a result, a series of social and economic upheavals had a profound effect on society; creating lack of optimism of better days. The people suffered religiously because the pandemic displayed a darker side of life leaving them to question their beliefs. Eventually, such upheavals relinquished and a sanguine time befitted Europe. Although the black plague claimed the lives of millions and placed kingdoms in turmoil, the plague actually improved economic conditions for its survivors. Depopulation allowed wealth for many people and Europe was on its way into a new age of prosperity.
The church could not save people from this disease, so it led to many people questioning and giving up on their religion. Doctors did not understand the origin of the disease, so most civilians believed the cause of the Black Death was from supernatural powers. They saw the disease as divine punishment, which is god punishing them. Many people thought they could beat themselves to atone for their supposed sins. The church lost power and influence in society because they failed to protect the civilians and the clergy from the horrid diseases. Many civilians lost faith and found a scapegoat to blame for the cause of the plague. The most popular scapegoat in the 14th century plague was the Jews. This religious group was accused of creating and spreading the plague because most Jews were merchants and the diseased rats were carried by the merchants. Persecution of the Jews continued out through the late Middle
People were forced to abandon family, friends, and homes. Civilians were so frightened to leave their houses, that they would shut themselves in their homes hoping that the rats or another person would not come and infect them. Funerals began to become perfunctory because there was an abundance of bodies and again people were terrified that they might catch something. Work in general also ceased to be completed. The lack of work was the cause of the shift in the feudal system. Serfs that used to only work for one lord would now normally be doing work for multiple. As a result of the change, the social classes were distinguished even more. The people that were wealthy usually didn't have to do much work and thus did not come in contact with the amount of infected people as the average towns people did. Their main concern was the rodents and the flies that would come with